Bringing your pet to Malta - a success story!

Hi there,

So happy you got your dog over so easily. What kind of dog is it? My spaniel is in Scotland and  I really want him here. I am now considering taking him on the train to France and flying him from there. In the UK, they insist on agents booking the dog on the plane. This makes the price outstanding (quotes of 1000 pounds from Heathrow!) Thanks for the information.

Cheers,

Eva

My dog is a Spanish Pedenco cross... a rabbit hunter, a little taller and more slender than a spaniel, but just as daft!

The booking agents fees are exorbitant in the UK, I agree.  France is a great idea.  The cross channel in the tunnel is really very easy with a pet these days.

Good luck with it, and please let us know how you get on

lillies wrote:

Hi there,

So happy you got your dog over so easily. What kind of dog is it? My spaniel is in Scotland and  I really want him here. I am now considering taking him on the train to France and flying him from there. In the UK, they insist on agents booking the dog on the plane. This makes the price outstanding (quotes of 1000 pounds from Heathrow!) Thanks for the information.

Cheers,

Eva

you can fly from Manchester Airpor on AirMalta cost is €70 per pet. very eays to do int he uK without going through these 'agents'

Ken

So glad your travel with your pet was so easy,I have to wait from 6 to 8 weeks before Ivan get a certificates  from a vet. Flights are cheap with American Airlines. Coast me more in Vet bills. I pay anything to bring my babies with me. I have two dogs and a cat.

Hi Ken,
I just called Air Malta who told me to call Air Malta Cargo UK and it is still the same. They can't book my dog on a flight without the agent.
Cheers,
Eva

You can also use Thompsons/Thomas Cook/ TUI (or whatever they are called now - airberlin ??) - a friend shipped 2 dogs with them from the UK to Malta this week, for far less than airmalta quoted

Hi Eva,

probably your dog is too big to take with you to the cabin. AirMalta will take dogs whose box will fit under a seat only. AirMalta takes bigger dogs only as cargo which means AirMalta Cargo and if you fly to Malta they will send you to their local agents at your departure location (at least this was explained to me when I was trying to organize our dog's move).

We have a beagle and we used Lufthansa because they will take dogs as checked baggage for a set fee. We paid 200 EUR (anywhere within Europe) for a size 2 kennel from Prague to Malta via Franfurt (+ one paying passenger)

Evi

Animals cannot go in the cabin whatever their size, if to/from the UK

Hey everyone

Hope we will be able to share a successful story about bringing our dog over in about 2 weeks when we finally move   We are driving all the way so just had to sort out ferries & pet friendly hotels as we will be doing 5 stop-overs on the way to Malta - a bit of a trip of a lifetime

Good luck to all in finding the right way of bringing over your pets .

pevi wrote:

AirMalta will take dogs whose box will fit under a seat only.

other than UK, the cabin limit is 10kg, incl the box/crate

Hi all,
I have had quotes from most of the main pet transporters in the UK and they are all in the high hundreds to just over one thousand pounds, and this is from Heathrow to Malta, handing my dog over to the agents at the airport (so no kennel fees etc). He is a cocker spaniel, so not a large dog. He weighs 14kgs of adorableness! I have been trying to figure out how to get him here since Christmas and have pretty much decided on the train and ferry. I also looked into buying a car in Edinburgh and driving him here - but that opened a whole other can or worms. I miss my dog so much......
Please keep any suggestions coming and if anyone else has taken their dog on the trains etc, please let me know. Thanks.

Cheers,

Eva

Hi Tina,
Please let me know how you get on, including the pet friendly motels Thanks
Eva

lillies wrote:

Hi Tina,
Please let me know how you get on, including the pet friendly motels Thanks
Eva

I sure will Have all 5 booked about a month ago, took some time to find them though - tried really hard in order to avoid huge prices and diverting too far from the main route planned! We'll see how we go and can give more info then 

Tinna... ROADTRIP!!!  How awesome

Good luck on your travels!

I have good news with our pet import! We arrived last night with our 2 dogs via Lufthansa. After much research, it was the best fit for us. It was actually quite easy. We got the forms oline from the Malta government site. We had our dogs microchipped at the Humane Society in Houston. We then got them their rabies shots, and sent in the forms via email. About 10 days later, we got the stamp of approval from Malta via email. One day before we left Houston, we took them to the vet for a bill of good health, and the Pyraquintel tablets. They filled out the International form (the single page one, not the other which l think is for the companies). We paid 200 dollars per dog as excess luggage in a size 1 and 2 crates. They were first off in Malta. Some guy came up to us and took us into a room where they checked the form and scanned them for the microchip and they said..see you later..and that was it! Took about 10 to 15 minutes. The shippers were quoting $2500 dollars and we did it for like 800 dollars. Our beagle and beagle mix are just fine, a bit sleepy and clingy..but very much okay. Fly Lufthansa if you can, everyone was great with them, as we're the Air Malta people from Frankfurt. As soon as l mentioned the dogs, they were like..oh they're fine. We put them in the hold already..blah..blah..blah..all smiles. Good luck..

georgeingozo wrote:

You can also use Thompsons/Thomas Cook/ TUI (or whatever they are called now - airberlin ??) - a friend shipped 2 dogs with them from the UK to Malta this week, for far less than airmalta quoted

Thanks GnG, will look at this, do you know what airport they travelled from?

Ken

lillies wrote:

Hi Ken,
I just called Air Malta who told me to call Air Malta Cargo UK and it is still the same. They can't book my dog on a flight without the agent.
Cheers,
Eva

Thanks Eva, I did not see any anything on their website pertaining to using an agent.

Ken

Rocking Ken wrote:

georgeingozo wrote:

You can also use Thompsons/Thomas Cook/ TUI (or whatever they are called now - airberlin ??) - a friend shipped 2 dogs with them from the UK to Malta this week, for far less than airmalta quoted

Thanks GnG, will look at this, do you know what airport they travelled from?

Ken

it was this flight

Air Berlin via Thomson Airways on Tuesday 7th May on TOM 4286 arriving in Malta at 22.00

I want to bring 3 California Rgadoll cats over - someone mentioned I should speak to Georgeingozo for advice

message sent to you

Hello everyone !

Sorry it took me awhile to get back about our trip from Ireland to Malta. Glad to say it was a success also
First of all we took Celtic Lines ferry from Ireland to France. We had a choice to either keep our dog in a car (with very limited times to visit him, I think 10 PM & 10 AM only with a member of a crew) or put him in a onboard kennels which we chose. This options was great as we could visit our dog anytime we wanted, take him for walks, play, feed him & etc. No limitations whatsoever - you're just given a code for the main gate where all the kennells were. It may have been a bit load for them when the heavy vehicles were just embarking on to a ferry, because you could hear them, otherwise it was perfect.
First overnight stop we had was in Nemours, France. Hotel very basic, automatic check-in after 9 PM (very straight-forward system), bed , shower - what else do you need? We only slept there few hours and left first thing after breakfast. If I remember correctly extra charge for the dog was about €3.00 2nd stop CHALET HOTEL LES CAMPANULES in Les Houches, France. Incredible place in a middle of the Alps. You take your dog anywhere in a hotel apart from the restaurant, which we thought was great. Very nice place and would not hesitate in recommending it. Charge for the pet €5.00. 3rd one -Holiday Inn Express in Bologna, Italy. Nice hotel, good location, plenty of parking. No charge for the pet, breakfast included free of charge, which we didn't have as left early morning to avoid the heat. 4th - 'Europa' - Arzano, Napoli. Hotel OK, no charge for the pet. Napoli is crazy otherwise, not the place we would ever plan on going back to - rubbish everywhere, mental driving conditions. Last stop - Villaggio Athragon, San Nicolò di Ricadi, Italy. Charge for the pet €20.00, but the actual Bungallow cost for the 2 of us onkly €28.00 so it wasnt bad at all. On a coast, resort has own beach access, swiming pool, nice surroundings - more of a holiday spot. Have to say we really enjoyed staying there. After that quick drive to Messina,dog stays in the car on a ferry, but it's only about 20 minutes. Drive through Sicily, few stops for a walk and a coffee & the fery from Pozzallo to Malta, where the dog stays in the car again (very comfortable ferry I have to say).
Sorry for a long story, but hoping it will help someone. If anyone has any questions - would be happy to answer & good luck.
Tinna

Hi to everyone, we were looking at moving to Malta, but we have 2 dogs which we were afraid that we would have to leave our dogs. And none of us wanted to move without the whole family coming. So glad we found this forum got some question answered, thanks to you all

thank you for this. I am planning to bring my dogs in malta end of sept and I was a bit worried about the process

Does anyone have any experience of bringing cats to Malta?  Any suggestions of shipping etc?
Thank you for any advice.

Hi
Im moving to malta in june and I have 2 boxer dogs and was wondering how much it is from scotland starting to panic now cause dont want to spent 2 and half grand on sending them with a agent and need to know who I phone to say they are coming need to know asap as gettingit organized now so please any info would be great
Claire

Claire - I'm PMing you a link containing the following - see 16

1. An EU citizens legal rights - residency, working, students
2. what sort of residency is available ?
3. what do I need to apply for if I want to reside in Malta ?
4. do I need to apply for residency before coming to live in Malta ?
5. do I need an accountant to apply for residency ?
6. do I need health insurance ?
6.1 Do I qualify for public health cover, and if I do, what cover do I have ? Are prescriptions free ?
7. can I work in Malta ?
7.1 How much is income tax ?
7.2 How much are social security contributions ?
8. where do I apply for my residency certificate ?
9. where can I get the residency application forms ?
10. where do I apply for my ID card ? - EDIT no longer applicable as ID cards no longer issued to foreigners
11. what documents do I need to apply for residency ?
12. can I vote in Malta ?
13.1 buying a property FAQ
13.2 selling a property FAQ
14. renting a property FAQ
15. Importing a vehicle FAQ
16. What's the procedure for importing/exporting a pet ?
17. Can I use my driving licence in Malta ?
17.1 Applying for driving licence
18. Long term residency certificate
19. EHIC
20. electricity/water bills - domestic v residential

could you please send me the link georgeingozo thanks

done

Hi Wilderbank

We moved here about a year ago (best thing we've ever done!) with our three cats.

We got their passports first, then contacted Air Malta. They recommended an agent who gave us all the paperwork and details we needed.

They even allowed us to make a provisional booking with them until we could confirm our own flights as we abviously wanted to be on the same flight. We flew on Bank Holiday Monday from Heathrow so a slight problem getting the vet certificate on a Sunday but that was the only issue.

Absolutely trouble free, everything went smoothly. It cost 700 pounds for the three cats. It would have been cheaper if we put two into one box but we didn't want to do that as they sometimes fight! We didn't ecvn have to pay the vet fee at this end.

Even better, as it was Bank Holiday the Club Class flight tickets for ourselves were only 25 each more than the economy class so travelled with twice the luggage and in style and well relaxed after a three hour wait in the 1st class lounge!

Anybody flew with air Baltic with pets, I'm planning to, maybe somebody can give me review.

claw83 wrote:

Hi
Im moving to malta in june and I have 2 boxer dogs and was wondering how much it is from scotland starting to panic now cause dont want to spent 2 and half grand on sending them with a agent and need to know who I phone to say they are coming need to know asap as gettingit organized now so please any info would be great
Claire

We also have a boxer,and were quoted £550 through Air Malta cargo.They dont  do the price on the size of the dog(31.5kg)but the size of the crate.You have the choice of two London airports,or  Manchester,BUT must fly on a Monday,no other days are available.
      We did look at Thomsons,i think they charge on the weight of the dog,£12 per kilo,but their fares were dearer,so the difference was neglagible.

We just had a quote from Airpets from the UK. Our dog is a Staffy so overland via the ferry isn't on but over £1,650 plus inoculations and passport plus fees at the Malta end sounds outrageous to me.

What is the weight and size of your dog ? Did you ask airmalta for a quote

She's about 21 kg, George. Only the one quote obtained so far.
OK, it includes collection, provision of a crate, vet fee this end and a night in their kennels but it still seems an awful lot of money. I could probably send a tonne of belongings and furniture for that sum.

That's about double the cost of going direct to the airline

Hope this helps. I vote for Lufthansa. Best care ever.
http://www.skyscanner.net/news/airline-pet-fees

Thats an excellent website - sadly Lufthansa dont fly UK-Malta direct

Robonline wrote:

We just had a quote from Airpets from the UK. Our dog is a Staffy so overland via the ferry isn't on but over £1,650 plus inoculations and passport plus fees at the Malta end sounds outrageous to me.

Can I ask why overland "isn't on"?

Terry

I know several people who have transported dogs larger than that overland